Though already facing a lawsuit over its recent ban on plastic bags, Manhattan Beach is setting its sights on another alleged environmental enemy.

City leaders tonight will discuss whether to pursue a law that would update a 20-year-old ban on polystyrene foam food containers in town that was never enforced.

Should the City Council opt to consider such an ordinance, it would take a final vote likely by March, said Lindy Coe-Juell, assistant to the city manager.

If ultimately approved, a new law would likely replace the city's original prohibition passed in October 1988 based on concerns that the production process depletes the ozone layer, Coe-Juell said.

This time around, though, Manhattan's worries over polystyrene - commonly referred to as Styrofoam - center on the product's effects on the coastal and marine environment, she said.

"The concern that our community has is for the Styrofoam getting into the marine environment, and its impact on the marine environment," Coe-Juell said. "I know the community is interested in it."

Early staff research has revealed the city's waste hauler does not accept polystyrene for recycling, and the product's lightweight construction makes it easily blown by wind into the ocean.

Environmentalists have long said foam fragments comprise a significant amount of coastal pollution, joining cigarette butts as the most common types of litter collected in annual Heal the Bay beach cleanups.

A handful of Southern California cities, including Huntington Beach, Malibu, Santa Monica and Calabasas, have already banned polystyrene products, according to a report issued by the Los Angeles County Public Works Department.

Should the council decide to pursue a new ban, staffers would canvass local businesses to assess the burden a prohibition would entail, Coe-Juell said.

Anthony Holt, manager of Islands inside the Manhattan Village mall, figured that smaller restaurants and eateries would have a harder time contending with such a ban than larger, national chains.

"Islands-wide is all paper," he said. "More of the mom-and-pop operations use Styrofoam."

But even some national chains rely on the products, such as Chinese fast food go-to Panda Express.

In the past year or so, Manhattan Beach has stepped up its efforts to be kinder to the planet, forming an environmental task force to help guide green policy.

The city last month approved a pharmaceutical drop-off facility, as well as low-emissions standards for taxicabs.

It also recently considered replacing the quaint gas-powered lanterns lighting some parts of town, but ultimately decided the endeavor would be too expensive.

But the city's claim to environmental protection fame came in July, when it banned plastic bags in town.

Local pharmacies, grocery stores, restaurants and city facilities must eliminate the products by February, with all other businesses following in August.

Meanwhile, the city is defending that legislation in court, as a group of plastics manufacturers quickly sued after the ban's approval, arguing Manhattan Beach did not fully study the prohibition's possible environmental effects.

On the polystyrene front, Coe-Juell has met with at least one foam proponent, calling the discussions amicable, and has heard no rumblings of any potential lawsuits, she said.